Disarmament

The Permanent Mission of Greece through its accreditation to the United Nations Office in Geneva, participates, either as member or as observer, in all deliberative bodies and conferences, pertaining to disarmament, whose meetings are taking place in Geneva.

In the field of disarmament and arms control, the United Nations Office in Geneva is the venue of the single multilateral disarmament negotiating forum of the international community, the Conference on Disarmament (CD), as well as of a number of disarmament related conferences, such us, the Convention of Certain Conventional Weapons, the Biological and Toxin Weapons Convention and the Anti-Personnel Landmine Convention.

Conference on Disarmament (CD)

The Conference on Disarmament, is the successor to various Geneva-based arms control bodies dating back to 1960. It was established in 1979 as the single multilateral disarmament negotiating forum of the international community, as a result of the First Special Session on Disarmament of the United Nations General Assembly (UNSSOD I) held in 1978.

The CD inherited a list of priorities from the (UNSSOD I), which is still regarded as the basis of its work, although its agenda currently focuses on the following issues: cessation of the nuclear arms race and nuclear disarmament; the prevention of nuclear war; prevention of an arms race in outer space; negative security assurances; new types of weapons of mass destruction and new systems of such weapons; comprehensive programme of disarmament and transparency in armaments.

Since concluding its negotiations on the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC) in 1992 and negotiating the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty from 1994-96, the CD has experienced a situation of continuous deadlock due to its inability to adopt a Programme of Work.

Following several decisions to enlarge its membership, the CD now has 65 member states.

Greece participates as observer in the CD work and is the first in the list of candidate countries for full membership, having applied for membership in 1982. In this regard, Greece is an active member of the Informal Group of Observer States (IGOS) and has called for the need for the CD to review its membership, in accordance with Rule 2 of its Rules of Procedure (CD/8/Rev. 9). Moreover, Greece has actively supported the idea to appoint a Special Rapporteur on the issue of Enlargement.

Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons (CCW)

The Convention on Prohibitions or Restrictions on the Use of Certain Conventional Weapons Which May Be Deemed to Be Excessively Injurious or to Have Indiscriminate Effects, comprises the framework convention and five protocols, which ban or restrict the use of various types of weapons that are considered to cause excessive suffering to combatants or indiscriminate harm to civilian populations.

The Convention embodying the fundamental principles of the law of armed conflict constitutes one of the principal instruments of international humanitarian law, complementing the Geneva Conventions of 1949 for the protection of war victims and their Additional Protocols of 1977.

The Convention was adopted in 1980 and entered into force in 1983. Currently 115 States are parties to the Convention.

Greece became party to the Convention in 1981, expressed its consent to be bound by Protocols I, II and III in 1992, by Protocol IV in 1997, by Amended Protocol II in 1999 and ratified the amendment to article 1 of the Convention in 2004. Greece has signed but not yet ratified Protocol V.

Biological and Toxin Weapons Convention (BTWC)

The Convention on the Prohibition of the Development, Production and Stockpiling of Bacteriological (Biological) and Toxic Weapons and on their Destruction, was the first multilateral disarmament treaty banning an entire category of weapons.

It is widely considered as a central element in the efforts of the international community against the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction.

The Convention was adopted in 1972 and entered into force in 1975. Currently, it has 165 States Parties.

Greece signed the Convention in 1972 and deposited its instrument of ratification on 10/12/1975, actively participating since in the process of its implementation.

Anti-Personnel Landmine Convention (APLC)

The Convention on the Prohibition of the Use, Stockpiling, Production and Transfer of Anti-Personnel Mines and on their Destruction is commonly referred to as the Ottawa Convention or the Mine Ban Treaty.

The Convention was opened for signature at Ottawa in 1997 and entered into force in 1999. Currently, 161 States are party.

Under the Convention, States-Parties must destroy all stocks of anti-personnel mines in four years and clear all minefields in their territory in 10 years.

Greece signed the Convention in 1997 and deposited its instrument of ratification, simultaneously with neighboring Turkey, on 25/09/2003. Since entry into force on March 2004, Greece is in the process of fulfilling its Treaty obligations and has regularly submitted its article 7 report on measures taken to implement the Convention. At the Cartagena Summit in 2009 Greece announced the completion of the clearing of all its mined areas (Article 5 of the Convention), four years ahead of schedule.